Auspherix, an early stage anti-infectives company, today announces that it has expanded its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) with the appointment of highly experienced clinician, Professor William Hope.

William’s career to date has focused on research in antimicrobial pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, mathematic modelling of antimicrobial agents and individualisation of antimicrobial therapy. He is an NIHR Clinical Scientist and Professor of Therapeutics and Infectious Diseases at The University of Liverpool, UK and was recently appointed as Chair in the Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology at The University of Liverpool. A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Royal College Pathologists of Australasia. He was previously Chair in Therapeutics and Infectious Diseases at The University of Manchester. He has a PhD in antimicrobial pharmacology from The University of Manchester. Alongside his advisory role to Auspherix, William is also Scientific Advisor to the ESCMID Fungal Infection Study Group, Secretary to the EUCAST Antifungal Susceptibility Testing Sub-Committee and was recently appointed to the ICAAC Program Committee for Antimicrobial Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and General Pharmacology.

Founded in 2013, Auspherix is developing a new class of anti-bacterials with a unique profile suggestive of a novel mechanism of action.

Dr Neil Miller, CSO of Auspherix, said: “With his hands on clinical experience, and a depth of knowledge gained during his careers in the anti-infectives space, William’s input and guidance will make an invaluable addition to the insight and steer we get from our SAB as we progress our novel anti-bacterial drug candidates through pre-clinical development towards our first-in-human clinical trial.”

The Auspherix’s SAB is chaired by Professor Ian Charles, co-founder and previously CSO of the Company, and now Director of the Institute of Food Research/Quadram Institute. He has a strong focus on translational research and infectious diseases, and was previously co-founder and CSO of Arrow Therapeutics. As well as new member Professor William Hope, other SAB members are: Auspherix CSO Neil Miller; Auspherix Board member Dr Jared Silverman, VP of Research at VL32 and who contributed to the discovery of three novel antibiotics during his career within Cubist Pharmaceuticals; Dr Alan Naylor, an independent consultant and medicinal chemist with over 30 years of R&D experience within GlaxoSmithKline; and Professor David Livermore, Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of East Anglia and serves on the UK Government’s Antimicrobial Resistance & Healthcare Associated Infection Advisory Committee.

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Notes to Editors

About Auspherix Ltd

Auspherix Ltd has discovered a novel class of antibacterials with a unique profile suggestive of a novel mechanism of action and therefore offer the potential to address the rising global problem of resistance to current antibiotics. Its compound series show activity against a broad range of multidrug resistant (MDR) important Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections, with profiles consistent with their use as antibacterial drugs for a number of indications with high unmet need and large market potential.

Based in Stevenage UK (in the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst facility), the Company was founded in late 2013 based on discoveries made at the ithree institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). The Company has raised AUS $2million in Seed investments (2013-2014) from Australia’s Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) and £6 million in Series A round (2015) from the MRCF and the UK’s Imperial innovations plc (AIM IVO).